http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/15/atlantic-monthly-editor-to-offer-apology-to-mccain-for-photogs-doctored-pics/ATLANTIC MONTHLY EDITOR TO OFFER APOLOGY TO MCCAIN FOR PHOTOGS DOCTORED PICS
The editor of The Atlantic Monthly said Monday he is sending a letter of apology to John McCain after a woman the magazine hired to photograph the Republican presidential nominee posted manipulated pictures from the photo shoot on her Web site.
Photographer Jill Greenberg, who is vehemently anti-Republican and expressed glee that the photos would stir up conservative ire, took pictures of McCain for the cover of The Atlantics October issue.
During the shoot, she took several other backlit pictures, which she then doctored and posted to her site. In one photo, she added blood oozing from McCains shark-toothed mouth and labeled it with the caption I am a bloodthirsty warmongerer. In another, a caption over McCains head says, I will have my girl kill Roe v. Wade, an obvious reference to his running mate Sarah Palins anti-abortion positions.
Editor James Bennet said Greenberg behaved improperly and will not be paid for the session. He said the magazine is also considering a lawsuit.
She has violated the terms of our agreement with her, of our contract with her so were taking steps. So were looking into what steps we can see to do something about that, Bennet told FOX News, adding that he is already drafting a letter of apology to McCain.
I mean this photographer went in there under our auspices to take a cover shot for us & but while she was there she behaved in an incredibly underhanded and unprofessional way, he said.
Greenbergs dislike for the GOP is not new. In 2004, she held an art exhibit in Los Angeles in which she displayed pictures of toddlers crying with the caption Four More Years. Greenberg admitted she intentionally made the toddlers cry so she could create a visual slam against President Bush.
Bennet said the magazines editors dont vet our photographers for their politics but looks at their professional track record.
This photographer had worked for everybody from Phillip Morris to Time Magazine to Portfolio magazine. She had a long record and no history of doing anything like what she has done her, he said.
Greenberg said that the cover shot for The Atlantic article was manipulated to leave McCains eyes red and skin looking bad. But Bennet said the magazine stands by the picture that made the front cover. He said the artwork went through editors hands before going to print, and it is accompanied by a terrific story that is a comprehensive look at McCains foreign policy.
I think the cover shot is very respectful of John McCain. I think its a good picture. People have to judge it for themselves, Bennet said, adding that he rejects Greenbergs characterizations of the shot.
One of the nice things about this situation is people can look at the cover shot and make their own determination about whether or not it is fair to John McCain. I believe very strongly that it is, Bennet said.
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September 12, 2008
How Jill Greenberg Really Feels About John McCain
When The Atlantic called Jill Greenberg, a committed Democrat, to shoot a portrait of John McCain for its October cover, she rubbed her hands with glee.
She delivered the image the magazine asked fora shot that makes the Republican presidential nominee look heroic. Greenberg is well known for her highly retouched images of bears and crying babies. But she didnt bother to do much retouching on her McCain images. I left his eyes red and his skin looking bad, she says.
After getting that shot, Greenberg asked McCain to please come over here for one more set-up before the 15-minute shoot was over. There, she had a beauty dish with a modeling light set up. Thats what he thought he was being lit by, Greenberg says. But that wasnt firing.
What was firing was a strobe positioned below him, which cast the horror movie shadows across his face and on the wall right behind him. He had no idea he was being lit from below, Greenberg says. And his handlers didnt seem to notice it either. I guess theyre not very sophisticated, she adds.
The Atlantic didnt select the diabolical looking McCain for its cover. Greenberg is hoping to license that image to some other magazine (she negotiated a two-week embargo with The Atlantic so she could re-license images from the shoot before the election).
Warned that the image is just the kind of thing that will stir up the anti-media vitriol in the conservative blogosphere, Greenberg said, Good. I want to stir stuff up, but not to the point where I get audited if he becomes president.
That said, she goes on to explain that shes thought about replacing McCains mouth with bloody shark teeth and displaying the image on a billboard with the message that the candidate is a bloodthirsty war monger.
Given her strong feelings about John McCain, we asked whether she had any reservations about taking the assignment in the first place.
I didnt, she says. Its definitely exciting to shoot someone who is in the limelight like that. I am a pretty hard core Democrat. Some of my artwork has been pretty anti-Bush, so maybe it was somewhat irresponsible for them [The Atlantic] to hire me.
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2008/09/how-jill-greenb.html>>>>>>>>>>>>>
MOR:
http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com/2008/09/jill-greenberg-open-mouth-insert-foot.htmlshe has a McCain image on her homepage splash
http://www.manipulator.com/
